ABSTRACT
The use of wild plants by communities of shifting cultivators in Southeast Asia has recently received increasing research attention, mainly from a conservation point of view, but also because of an increasing demand for forest products from urban populations. In Sarawak, broad ethnobotanical studies have been carried out by Pearce et al. (1987) and Chin (1985), while more specific studies have focused on traditional medicine and plants for decorative uses (Ahmad and Holdsworth 1994; Kedit 1994; Leaman et al. 1996). Most recently, a study on Kelabit and Iban plant uses has resulted in a very comprehensive compilation of indigenous knowledge concerning Bornean rainforest resources (Christensen 2002). A total of 1,144 different species is identified, with an even wider range of associated uses.
